The invention relates to a spark ignition internal combustion engine with direct fuel injection having at least one cylinder including a combustion chamber formed between a cylinder head and a piston with an inlet and an outlet duct formed in the cylinder head and a fuel injector and a spark plug mounted in the cylinder head so as to extend into the combustion chamber.
When operating spark ignition internal combustion engines with direct injection, injection nozzles are used which are intended to ensure improved combustion with low formation of emissions by forming a specific shape of fuel jet. In particular in a jet-controlled combustion method, outwardly opening injection nozzles are used to configure an optimized fuel injection pattern.
DE 199 11 023 C2 discloses an internal combustion engine in which fuel is introduced into the combustion chamber in the form of a hollow cone by means of an outwardly opening injection nozzle. In a stratified charge mode in such a context the fuel meets compressed combustion air in the combustion chamber so that as a result a peripheral eddy flow pattern is formed in the combustion chamber. An ignitable fuel/air mixture thus reaches the vicinity of a spark plug. The spark plug is arranged in such a way that the electrodes of the spark plug project into the peripheral eddy flow pattern but are disposed outside an outer surface of the hollow cone of fuel generated during the fuel injection.
The arrangement of the injection nozzle in the combustion chamber and the positioning of a spark plug which is provided to ignite a fuel/air mixture which is formed are important for the combustion properties of the internal combustion engine and its efficiency. In order to bring about reliable ignition, the configuration of the combustion chamber is designed so as to avoid the occurrence of misfiring during engine operation. The misfiring is frequently due to the fact that tolerances in the fabrication of the injection nozzles cause fuel jets to form slight deviations from an ideal jet structure despite compliance with the approved tolerance values.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a spark ignition internal combustion engine with direct fuel injection in which the formation of the air/fuel mixture and the combustion of the mixture in the combustion chamber are improved.